September 21, 2007

Chocolate Mistletoe Kisses – the 2007 mistletoe season begins here…

Well, here we are again. Mistletoe season is upon us once more. And please don’t give me that ‘September is far too early’ stuff – I know what I’m talking about. I’ve just (30 mins ago) been down the Co-op and found a mid-aisle display of ‘Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses’ chocolates. So it really is Mistletoe Season. At least according to Mars Confectionery (and others – see below).

My immediate reaction (natch) was to put some in the trolley. Despite the wrapper illustration (not easily seen on this pic) clearly being of plastic mistletoe – which regular mistletoe-blog readers will remember (I hope) that I really really hate. Though I’m currently resisting sampling the chocs (Caroline, the beloved one, is away, and I thought it would make a suitable love-token for her return next week… ) I thought I should check out some reviews.

Now, I’ve always thought my mistletoe pages and blogs are a bit odd – but this review of Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses, does (imho) make my mistletoe rantings seem relatively sane. A whole site devoted to ‘sightings’ of obscure chocolate products around the world… Makes me feel a lot better…

It’s a mixed review – despite the wrapper wording ‘ chocolate pieces with an indulgent mousse & caramel centre’ one comment says they’re just like Galaxy Caramels – but another wants them on sale all year round – reminding me of my old website slogan – Mistletoe is for Life, not just for Christmas. Maybe I should start using it again? Maybe not.

Meanwhile, back in the real, non-plastic, mistletoe world there’s lot going on already… Plans for this year’s Tenbury Mistletoe Festival are well underway – with most happening on 1st December. Check-out the website for more info – Tenbury Wells was very badly flooded earlier this summer – and the town is determined to bounce back in time for Christmas…

‘TEME’ online mistletoe are chugging along nicely too – lots of enquiries already for this Christmas – some small customers, others rather larger. Lots of weddings too – mistletoe is becoming a fashionable item for winter weddings – symbol of eternal love and all that (not to mention fertility…). Not just weddings either – there was an enquiry about mistletoe for a funeral this week! Apparently the deceased had met their spouse under mistletoe – and mistletoe has remained a key association ever since.

The TEME website is due for it’s annual overhaul in the next few days – so do have a look at it soon. Lots of new ideas appearing on there – including mistletoe packs for pubs and clubs, more on wedding packages, and some new mistletoe postcard collections. Plus the Grow-Your-Own Kit of course…

But that’s enough advertising – what’s really going on in the UK mistletoe world?? Well, quite a lot really – conservation projects are continuing – take a look at the London mistletoe project for example info (sorry, the wiki is a bit out-of-date), the 1990s national survey info is being re-analysed this winter, and there’s considerable interest in assessing exactly what economic value the mistletoe harvest in old apple orchards adds to orchard value – more on all this soon…

Oh, and my www.mistletoe.org.uk website is due for a revamp in October… more soon… And laready lots of media interest – again, more soon…